i think this would go here. have any of you let your barn use your horse for lessons for a board decrease? im interested in a gelding but i would have the oppertunity to have them use him for lessons for my board to be cut in half.Posted via Mobile Device

I've only seen it work out well a few times - when the owner wasn't riding. The other times, the horses ended up being overworked and learned all sorts of rotten habits from having beginners on them.Posted via Mobile Device

My first horse job was in a UK BHS riding school/livery yard (boarding) where a lot of the horses and ponies were used on a working livery basis. It meant that the owners got the use of all the facilities the same as someone paying full board but at the reduced price
It worked very well for some people but for others it was an endless stream of arguments
You need to agree firmly up front how many hours a week your horse will be used and those times need to fit in with the times you are going to want to ride yourself
What type of rider will be allowed to ride your horse - some people dont want beginners or novice riders on their horses - for good reason and some horse dont react well to a rider who is either always too passive or always too aggressive and that would create problems for you
Riding Schools are busiest at weekends - how would this affect you if you want to compete or want the horse for a whole day for some other reason.
You then need to just decide how you will feel about other people riding your horse in general, personally I am far too possessive about my horses to feel comfortable about it so probably wouldnt work for me

hes not for a beginner, tust me he doesnt work well for them. i was thinking of 2 lessons a week use since lessons are $35 an hour lesson. there taking $200 off board so id pay $250 a month and 8 lessons a month equals out the rest of the board.Posted via Mobile Device

Its actually to your advantage that he's not a beginner horse as they are the ones that get most abused in these situations
I can only advice you to sit down with the BO/Manager and get an agreement worked out to suit you both but in case things dont work to plan have an amenable opt out clause thats not going to leave you either asked to remove the horse immediately or keeping him there in a difficult atmosphere

This is part of my boarding contract, but the language says they need to let me know first who they would like to ride my mare, and when. And I get final say. They have never asked to use her for a lesson. I recognize this might be atypical, but you might see if you can get sign off on exactly when she's used and who is riding her.

We've done it - but not to decrease board. To allow the horse to be worked more often the the owner could get out. Owner does not have to pay to have the horse worked, knows the horse is being groomed, looked at closely and knows the instructor is there to head off any mishaps.

If you think about it - we ride multiple horses to become more well rounded riders. A horse with multiple riders can be a well rounded horse. I think there are only a handful of horses that would not benefit.

If they are charging $35 per lesson, that whole amount is not likely to go to the use of the horse. I would think that of the $35, maybe $10 or $15 would go towards the horse 'rental'. If you use the $10 figure to make up $200 that's 20 rides a month. So unless they've told you that $35 figure is for the horse rental, I would assume that your horse is going to be used a heck of a lot more than twice a week.

Yes, they get all the lesson money, but you have to figure in their time and the horse rental. If they inadvertently 'pay' you $35 a ride for your horse, and make $35 of that lesson, you are making 100% of the profit from that lesson, which isn't how it tends to work. ;D

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